


Proper Swimming

by PseudonymousBotched



Series: Gallifins [2]
Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Gallifins, Nonbinary Character, Nonbinary Doctor, mermaid au, merman au, the doctor uses they/them pronouns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-14
Updated: 2017-06-14
Packaged: 2018-11-14 03:00:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11199075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PseudonymousBotched/pseuds/PseudonymousBotched
Summary: Victoria gets introduced to the TARDIS, mermaid style.





	Proper Swimming

“There we are,” says the Doctor, opening the doors to the TARDIS and escorting young Victoria inside. “Well, what do you think?”

The young Victorian girl is gazing around in admiration and awe at the space/time ship. “I don't know, I can't believe it! It's so big...”

The Doctor laughs to themself and looks around at the ship himself, as if seeing it through her eyes too.

“Where are we?” Victoria asks.

“Oh, it's called the TARDIS,” the Doctor explains. “It's my home, or at least it has been for a considerable number of years.”

“What are all these knobs?” 

“What, these?” The Doctor flips the switches that caught Victoria's attention and lights come on inside the TARDIS console, doing nothing in particular.

“Instruments,” says Jamie, coming to Victoria's side. “These,” he gestures, “are for controlling our flight.”

“Flight?” scoffs Victoria.

“Well, yes. You see, we travel around through time and space,” Jamie explains patiently. 

Victoria laughs.

“Oh no, don't laugh,” says the Doctor earnestly. “It's quite true. Your father and Maxtible were working on the same problem. But my people have perfected a rather special model a rather long time ago, which enables me to travel through the universe of time.”

“Your people?” Victoria says. “How do you mean, your people?”

“I come from another world, Victoria.”

“How do you mean?”

The Doctor looked at Jamie. “Should I show her?”

Jamie looked uncertain. “We don't want to frighten the poor girl...”

“Frighten me? I don't think there's anything you can do that can frighten me after what I've seen,” Victoria said.

“True,” said the Doctor. “Very well.” They flip a few more switches on the TARDIS console. “Watch the gravity,” they warn.

“The what?” Victoria says, before floating gently upward and off her feet.

Startled, she looks around to see the other two floating in midair too.

The Doctor is fidgeting with the jewel on their ring on their right hand, and suddenly their garish plaid-pants legs are gone – replaced by a forest green mermaid tail.

Victoria understands then why the “gravity” had to disappear; the Doctor never would have been able to stand on his tail. 

“This is what my people look like,” the Doctor explains. “We come from a world that is mostly ocean.”

“But you built technology so you could explore like people,” Victoria said.

The Doctor smiled thinly. “You could put it like that, I suppose.” 

Victoria finds that by kicking her feet, she can move in the air almost as if paddling in the water, if a bit slower. She nearly bumps into Jamie after this revelation. When she sees the Doctor reach for the switches again, she shyly asks, “Could you leave off turning that gravity back on again for a while?”

“I suppose so. Why?”

“Because this is just like swimming, only … only more proper!” 

Jamie soon gets into the swing of air swimming too, and of course the Doctor takes to it like a fish to, well... While the humans have to muck about with paddling with their hands and feet, moving a few feet at a time, the Doctor can flip their fins a couple of times and sail across the console room effortlessly.

“Welcome aboard the TARDIS, Victoria,” they say as they air swim past her upside down. They extend a hand for a handshake.

“Pleasure,” she replies, and shakes their hand.


End file.
